Bracelet attachment



C. A. DOMLER BRACELET ATTACHMENT Filed Demfl, 1929 July 22, 1930,

mqujy Patented July 22, 1930 UNITED Y STATES vPATENT `OFFICE CHARLES A. DOMLER, OF PROVIDENCE, RII-IODE ISLAND, ASSIGNOR T THE HADLEY COMPANY, INC., OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND', A CORPORATION OF RHODE ISLAND BRACELET ATTACHMENT Application mea December 31, 192e. 'serial No. 417,730.

` and securely locked in closed position yet easily readily opened to extend the connector. which is attractive in appearance and which is composed of a small number of parts sol constructed and arranged that the closed connector is unusually thin, and which has a relatively small portion exposed to view between the connected ends of the bracelet properand presenting a smooth outer surface which maybe embossed or decorated to simulate an integral part of the bracelet. Further objects reside in the improved structural 'features of the connector and its latchmember, as hereinafter described and pointed out in the appended claims.

The recommended embodiment of the invention which is chosen for the purpose of illustration in the accompanying drawings is associated with a flexible link bracelet, butv it will be understood that the precise construction of the connected bracelet sections is not essential to the present invention. In the drawings: y Y

Fig. 1 is a top view of a portion of a bracelet equipped with improved attachment or connector;

Fig. 2 is a side view thereof, showing the connector in closed position;

Figs. 3 and 4 are views similar to Fig. 2 showing respectively preferred modes o'f opening and closing the connector;

closed latch; and

, Fig. 6 is an enlarged longitudinal section through the latch as shown in Fig. 2, with certain parts in side elevation.

In the illustrated embodiment ofthe invention, the extensible connector and its latch constitutes aunitary attachment of the bifold type for connecting corresponding ends of a pairi of bracelet sections 7 -and 8, the opposite extremity of plate 9. rIhe latch preferably Fig. 5 is an enlarged bottom view of the ends of the bracelet sections being 'fastened to a wrist watch when the bracelet is used for that purpose. The'attacliment accord-Y ingly comprises a pair of substantially rigid members, preferably thin,1netal plates 9 and 10, pivoted together at one end by a hinge 11 to swing into juxtaposed, overlapping relation. The connector plates may be curved as shown, to conform to the shape of the wearers wrist, 4.and the lower plate 9 is preferably larger than the upper plate 10.

The forward or free end of the lower plate 9 is bent rearwardly to provide a loop 12 to which the bracelet section 7 may be attached, and the extremity of the plate is turned downwardly toward the upper face of the plate to furnish a shoulder or hook 13 terminating short of said face. The forward end of the upper plate 10 is formed with a shoulder 14 providing an upwardly offset ledge or platform 15 parallel to the main body of the plate; and its extremity is cut through longitudinally to provide a central tongue 16 which is rolled downwardly to embrace a transverse pivotv pin 17, and a pair of side tabs 18 which are turned downwardly and rearwardly toward the shoulder 14. A transverse tube 19 is fastened as by soldering to the outer face of the plate 10, preferably behind the shoulder 14, and serves as a convenient attachment for the end of the bracelet section 8. i

' The plates9 and 10 are releasably held in overlapping or folded relation by a latch member which is Vpivoted to one of said plates, preferably at the forward end of the upper plate 10, and is arranged to latch with the other plate in locking engagement, preferably under the hook or shoulder 13 at the comprises a hoolr 2O engageable beneath the shoulder 13, hinge sleeves 21 journaled on the pivot 17, and a releasing arm or Vlever 22 overlying the ledge 15, all of said portions being shaped from a single piece of sheet metal by suitable forming operations. For example, `the sleeves 21 may be formed by rolling downwardly a pair of ears cut from the sides of the metal piece and arranged to straddle the tongue 16 on the pivot 17 100 (Fig. 5), and the arm or lever 22 may be a flat central extension of said piece adapted to lie fiatwise upon the outer face of the ledge 15 when the latch is engaged. rl`he end of the arm 22 preferably carries a pair of studs Figs. 5 and 6, so that the ends of the tongues abut the ends of the slots when the arm 22 has been swung upwardly to the desired ektent, for example to the position shown 1n Fig. 3. In such position, the hook 2O has been disengaged from the shoulder 13 by lifting the lever 22 with the finger nail, and the plate 10 may be swung upwardly of the plate 9, as indicated in broken lines in Fig. 3, to extend the effective length of the bracelet and permit it to be drawn over the hand.

The connector plates may, if desired, be locked in closed position (F ig. 2) by reversing the operations just described, that is by folding the plate together and pressing the lever 22 downwardly to swing the hook 20 under shoulder 13, but it is recommended that the lever be snapped to closed position initially and, that the plates be then swung together, as illustrated in Fig. 4, and pressed into locking position. By this simple and effective operation the hook 2O rides over the shoulder 13, owing to the resiliency of the upper plate 10 which is arched slightly as indicated in Fig. ll, and then snaps under the shoulder as the plate straightens and lengthens to normal position. f

Although the flexible bracelet sections connected by the attachment above describedY may be made of any suitable material, such as metal links, or chains, leather or fabric straps, or similar materials, the link bracelet shown in the drawings is particularly appropriate for association with the described connector. Thisbracelet comprises a. series of parallel metal tubesor links 27 flexibly interconnected by U-shaped staples 28 having legs received within opposite endsof adjacent links and straddling the contiguous walls thereof. rlhe ends of the corresponding legs of each complemental pair of staples are detachably interconnected by complemental interengaging recesses and proj ectionsas shown at 29, Fig. 5, so that the staples may be inserted or removed as desired. Vilith' such a construction, the bracelet sections Tand 8 may conveniently be attached to the folding connector by locking the outer legs of the end staples 28 within the loop 12 of plate 9 and the tube 19 of plate 10, respectively (Figs. 5 and 6). Hence, there is substantially no f interruption in the pleasing continuity of the bracelet structure, except at the relatively short space occupied by the latch member; and the exposed surface of the latch may be marked with lines 80 (Fig. l), simulating tle appearance of the bracelet links and stap es.

From the foregoing itis evident that the improved attachment furnishes a connector which is structurally compact and neat in appearance, which is comfortable in use and easy to operate either to lock or release the eXtensible connector plates, and which avoids the objectionable thickness and clumsy appearance of the attachments heretofore in use. It will be understood that the precise structural details of the elements herein described may be varied to suit particular purpose without departing from the spirit of this invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. An attachment for wrist watch bracelets or the like, comprising a pair of foldable connector lplates pivoted together to swing vinto overlapping relation, connections on the respective plates remote from the pivot for securing bracelet ends to the attachment so that the bracelet is extended when the platesare unfolded, the forward end of'one of the plates having a shoulder projecting toward the face of said plate, anda latch vpivoted at the forward end of the other plate and having a hook detachably engaging said shoulder to lock the attachment in folded position.

2'. An attachment for wrist watch braceletsor the like, comprising a pair of foldable connector plates pivoted together to swing into overlapping relation connections on the respective plates remote from the pivot for securing bracelet ends to theattachmentso that the bracelet is extended when the plates are unfolded, oneV of said plates being longer than the other and the free forward end of the longer plate being bent rearwardly and having a shoulder projecting` toward the face of the plate, a latch pivoted at-the free end of the shorter plate, the latch having a hook detachably engageable with said shoulder to lock the attachment in folded position.

8. in attachment for wrist watch bracelets or Ythe like, comprising a pair of foldable connector plates pivoted vtogether to swing into overlapping relation, connections on the respective plates remote from the pivot for securing bracelet ends to the attachment so that the bracelet is extended when theplates are unfolded, one of said plates being longer than the other and the free forward end of the longer plate being bent rearwardly and having a shoulder projecting toward the face of .the plate, a latch-pivoted at the free end v of the shorter plate, the latch having a hook detachably engageable with said shoulder to lock the attachment in folded position, and

means for limiting the swinging movement of the pivoted latch.

t. An attachment for wrist watch bracelets or the like, comprising a pair of foldable connector plates pivoted together to swing into overlapping relation, connections on the respective plates remote from the pivot for securing bracelet ends to the attachment so that the bracelet is extended when the plates are unfolded, one of said plates being longer than the other and the free forward end of the longer plate being bent rearwardly and having a shoulder projecting toward the face of the plate, and a latch pivoted at the free end of the shorter plate, the latch having a hook detachably engageable with said shoulder to lock the attachment in folded position, and having an arm overlying the outer surface of said shorter plate, the arm having a downwardly projecting stud and the plate having a recess frictionally receiving said stud for holding the hook in engagement with the shoulder.

5. An attachment for wrist watch bracelets or the like, comprising upper and lower connector plates pivoted together at one end to swing into folded juxtaposed relation, connections on the respective plates remote from the pivoted ends thereof for securing bracelet ends to the attachment so that the bracelet is extended when the plates are unfolded, the upper plate being shorter than the lower plate and having a transverse pivot pin at its forward extremity, the forward end of the lower plate being bent rearwardly over the upper face thereof and having a shoulder projecting downwardly toward said face, and a latch having a sleeve pivoted on said pin, a hook engageable beneath said shoulder and a lever for releasing the hook from said engagement, the lever lying atwise upon the outer surface of the upper plate when the latch is engaged to hold the plates in folded position, said surface having an aperture and the lever having a downwardly projecting .stud frictionally engaging in said aperturev to lock the latch in said position.

6. An attachmenf for wrist watch bracelets or the like, comprising upper and lower connector plates pivoted together at one end to swing into folded juxtaposed relation, connections on the respective plates remote from the pivoted ends thereof for securing bracelet ends to the attachment so that the bracelet is extended when the plates are unfolded, the. upper plate being shorter than the lower plate and having a transverse pivot pin at its forward extremity, the forward end of the lower plate being bent rearwardly over the upper face thereof and having a shoulder projecting downwardly toward said face, and

' a latch having a sleeve pivoted on said pin, a

hook engageable beneath said shoulder and a lever for releasing the hookfrom said engagement, the lever lying flatwise upon the outer surface of the upper Aplate when' the latch is engaged to hold the plates in folded position, said surface having an aperture and the lever having a downwardly projecting stud frictionally engaging in said aperture to lock theflatch insaid position, and means for limitingthe rotation of said sleeve.

7. An attachmentwfor wrist watch bracelets or the like, comprising upper and lower connector plates pivoted together at one end to swing :into folded juxtaposed relation, the lower plate being longer than the upper plate and having its forward end bent rearwardly for over its upper `face to provide a loop connecting a bracelet end thereto, the extremity of said end projecting downwardly toward said face and constituting a shoulder terminating short of vsaid face, Vthe upper plate having an upwardly offset ledge at its forwardv end and terminating in a tongue rolled downwardly of the ledge, a pivot pin embraced by said tongue, a latch member having sleeves pivoted on the ends of said pin and a hook portion engageable beneath said shoulder, means for releasably holding the hook in engagement with said shoulder to lock the plates in closed position, and a connection on the upper plate disposed rearwardly of the offset ledge for attaching a bracelet end thereto.

8. An attachment for wrist watch bracelets or the like, comprising upper and lower connector plates pivoted together at one end to swing into folded juxtaposed relation, the lower plate being longer than the upper plate and having its forward end bent rearwardly over its upper face to provide a loop for connecting a bracelet end thereto, the extremity of sald end projecting downwardly toward said face and constituting a shoulder terminating short of said face, the upper plate having an upwardly offset ledge at its forward end and terminating in a tongue rolled downwardly of the ledge, a pivot pin embraced by said tongue, a latch member having sleeves pivoted on said pin at the opposite ends of said tongue and having a hook engageable beneath said shoulder and a lever overlying said ledge, the ledge having an aperture and the lever having a downwardly projecting stud frictionally engaging in said aperture when the hook is engaged, thereby releasably to lock the plates in closed position, and a tube secured to the upper plate rearwardly of the offset ledge for attaching a bracelet end thereto.

9. An attachment for wrist watch bracelets or the like, comprising upper and lower connector plates pivoted together at one end to swing into folded juxtaposed relation, the lower plate being longer than the upper plate and having its forward end bent rearwardly over its upper face to provide a loop for connecting a bracelet end thereto, the extremity of said en d projecting downwardly loo toward said face and constituting a' shoulder terminating short of said face, the upper plate having an upwardly offset ledge at its forward end and terminating in a tongue rolled downwardly of the ledge,ra pvot pin embraced by said tongue, a latch member having sleeves pivoted on said pin at the opposite ends of said tongue and having a hook engageable beneath said shoulder and a lever overlying said ledge, the'ledge having an aperture and the lever having a downwardly projecting stud frictionally engaging in said aperture when the hook is engaged, thereby releasably to lock the plates in closed position, said sleeves having peripheral slots and the ledge having downwardly bent side tabs provided with struck out tongues received in the respective slots for limiting the rotation of the sleeves, and a tube secured to the upper plate rearwardly of the offset ledge for atcaching a bracelet end thereto.

Signed by me at Providence, Rhode Island. this 18th day of December, 1929.

Y CHARLES A. DOMLER. 

